Very true! Can I ask Laurie what procedures are you doing with your cat? Did you do an ultrasound was there a mass in the intestines? I keep going back on if I should just schedule her for an ultrasound. But I don't know what good it will do. Liza has been on Prednisolone for about a month now due to her sinus infection. The vet said for us to keep her on this and up the dose from half to one a day. She said this can shrink the tumor. Liza has been rejecting them the past week when I do manage to get it down her she does on occasion throw it back up. Obviously this won't cure the cancer but will buy her sometime, how much time though? I haven't been able to get her to eat much I do have to force feed her and she does on occasion throw that back up to.
I've never typed all of this out before, but I think it's important to try to put Noddy's undiagnosed condition into the most informed possible context. Noddy is a massive cat who spent the majority of his adult life morbidly obese at 26+ lbs. Aside from the obesity itself and a mild limp in one front leg probably caused by that obesity, he was always the picture of good health. He was lazy, of course, but his appetite was strong, his stomach happily digested the high-carb kibble diet I was feeding at that time, and he never had a sickly day.
Then in 2007 at the age of 12, Noddy had a diabetes scare that made me finally get serious about taking all of that extra weight off of him (and my other cats). Over the next 18 mos, Nods gradually and deliberately lost about 10 lbs and achieved an optimal weight of 16.5 lbs.
Coincidentally or not, it was during the weight loss period after I transitioned him to a primarily raw diet that Noddy started developing GI problems. He ate the raw diet without problems for several months, then suddenly started vomiting every bit of raw meat/organs/bones I tried to feed him. I necessarily switched him to canned and kibble foods. From then on, Noddy would cycle through periods when he could tolerate one type of food (canned, kibble, or raw), but not another.
About six months ago, Noddy suddenly started vomiting everything he ate. He couldn't keep anything down. He dropped weight quickly. My vet prescribed metoclopramide to control the vomiting, which Noddy has been taking twice daily since the constant vomiting started. The vomiting stopped, for the most part, but Noddy still had very little appetite. The weight loss continued, and he clearly didn't feel well. I gave him 1/8 Zantac 75 daily to control stomach acid, and anywhere from 100-150 ml of Lactated Ringer's subQ daily to keep him hydrated. I occasionally also gave him 1/4 of a cyproheptadine to stimulate appetite, but it didn't work on him.
After Noddy had lost 3 lbs with no sign of stopping, I finally decided to risk Prednisolone. Because of Noddy's history of morbid obesity, pred carries a substantial risk of triggering diabetes in him, which is why I had been resisting putting him on it earlier. But between the risk of diabetes and the reality of starving himself to death, I opted for the diabetes risk. He took prednisolone at a dose of 5 mg twice daily for the last several months, during which time he gained back two of the three pounds he had lost.
Unfortunately, Noddy's appetite is still minimal, so I've been supplementing the small amount he eats on his own with syringe feedings for months now. His syringe slurry is made up of premium quality canned foods, cheap "tasty" canned foods, Nutristat, fish oil, potassium gluconate, methylcobalamin, folic acid, acidophilus, taurine, and Miralax.
Once Noddy's condition stabilized and he was no longer either improving or getting worse, my vet recommended I slowly start reducing his pred dose, which I did. Unfortunately, even the tiniest dose decrease caused him to backslide and start to act noticeably sicker. He started rejecting his syringe feedings and started vomiting occasionally, in spite of the metoclopramide. I returned his dose to 5 mg twice daily, but so far, his condition has not improved back to where it was before the dose decrease. It's only been a few days, though, so I'm still hopeful. I've started giving him 1/8 Zantac 75 once daily again, and that may be helping a bit to settle his stomach.
Throughout all of this, the only notable issue in his bloodwork has been renal values at the upper edge of the normal range, indicating that Noddy has been in early stage renal failure for more than a year. His renal values have been stable during that time with no obvious progression of the disease so far.
Noddy has experienced no abdominal tenderness at all, and my vet has been unable to palpate any obvious masses. My vet has speculated that Noddy may have pancreatitis, but pancreatitis typically causes substantial abdominal tenderness, so I don't believe that's at play. I suspect that Noddy has either intestinal lymphoma or IBD, both of which I would be managing the same way I'm managing him now, so further diagnostics seem unproductive. I have not had an ultrasound or any type of biopsy performed on Noddy.
My boy is worrying me since I tried reducing his pred dose. He's had several bad days in a row now, and it's stressing us both out. I hope that returning the pred to his original dose and adding Zantac 75 to his daily regimen will turn him around again.
I hope you can follow all of this and not get too confused by it. Please feel free to ask me any other questions you may have about Noddy's management or history. There are a number of similarities between Liza's condition and Noddy's, but there are also some key dissimilarities.
The only advice I would offer you now is to make whatever decision you're going to make about how to proceed with Liza very quickly so as to minimize any suffering. If you decide to pursue further diagnostics, do them as soon as possible. If you decide to euthanize, don't delay that, either.
I wish you and Liza the best possible outcome, whatever your decision.
Laurie
